The present invention relates to disk holders for holding information storage media and, more particularly, to a disk holder for holding a plurality of disk-shaped (doughnut-shaped) storage disks with an axle hole at the center in parallel at regular intervals.
A magnetic disk mounted on hard disk units, which is used as an external storage device of a computer, etc., requires the surface thereof to have an extremely high degree of flatness and cleanliness. It is required to keep the surface to a certain degree of cleanliness not only during transportation or storage but also during manufacturing.
Such products require extremely careful handling from putting the products into a case to taking the products out of the case.
For cases requiring such careful handling, Japanese Patent Publication No.Hei 5-55395 (prior art example 1) discloses a storage disk package. The storage disk package comprises a combination of an upper cover, a disk box, and a lower cover, adapted to seal a plurality of computer storage disks in a disk box and support the disks with them packaged.
The storage disk package of the prior art example 1 is used not only as an in-process case but also as a delivery case with storage disks accommodated therein.
However, when the disk box is covered with the upper cover and the lower cover, the upper cover and the lower cover of the storage disk package of the prior art example 1 are snapped into the opening rims of the disk box.
Accordingly, when the disk box is to be covered at the time of delivery, such a problem is raised that fitting the upper cover and the lower cover to the box causes dust particles produced by the friction of the members to be adhered to the surface of the storage disks in the box.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.Hei 10-182846 (prior art example 2) pointed out the aforementioned problem and suggested a storage disk package that did not produce dust particles at the time of covering the disk box with an upper cover.
However, the package of the prior art example 2 is the same as the prior art example 1 in that the combination of the disk box, the lower cover, and the upper cover is used. The disk box has flutes for holding disks and a plurality of disks are accommodated in the disk box by being separated so as not to be in contact with each other and held in each of the holding flutes.
Therefore, even using the package according to the prior art example 2 cannot avoid the problem, so long as this package is used as a delivery case, that storage disks are held in the holding flutes inside the package, so that the outer circumference portions of the disks come to contact with the inner wall of the flutes and this cause dust particles and fine particles produced from the box possibly to adhere to the disks.
Thus, this raises the problem that the outer circumference portions of the disks in contact with the box cannot be used as the recording surface, preventing the amount of recorded information of the disk from being expanded.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,724 (prior art example 3) suggested a disk support member (a disk holder) of a mandrel type for supporting the axle hole of a disk.
The disk holder according to the prior art example 3 is inserted into the axle holed of disks accommodated in an in-process case to support the inner peripheries for supporting the disks at regular intervals in parallel to each other. Transferring this holder to a delivery case makes it possible to transport and store the disks without allowing the outer circumference portion of each of the disks to be in contact with the inner wall of the case.
As shown in FIG. 28, the prior art example 3 uses a pair of disk support members 621 and 622 (a first core and a second core) combined into a cylinder.
Each of the disk support members 621 and 622 is provided, on the arc-shaped surface thereof, with a number of arc-shaped flutes 623. The axle hole D1 of the disk D is received in the arc-shaped flutes 623 at a contracted diameter position where the spacing between both the disk support members 621 and 622 is narrowed. Then, the flutes 623 are pressed against the inner periphery of the axle hole D1 of the disk D at the expanded diameter position where the spacing between both the disk support members 621 and 622 is widened. Thus, by making use of the expanding force of both the disk support members 621 and 622, each of the disks D is fixed onto the circumference of the holder.
The manipulation for switching the paired disk support members 621 and 622 from the contracted diameter position to the expanded diameter position, or conversely, from the expanded diameter position to the contracted diameter position is carried out by pushing in or pulling out the paired cam actuators 624 each inserted into the cylinder of the holder formed by the combination of the disk support members 621 and 622 through the both ends thereof.
The cam actuators 624 used in the prior art example 3 have pins 626 on a slide shaft 625. The pins 626 are inserted into the cam grooves 627 and 628 formed on the paired disk support members 621 and 622. The slide shaft 625 is pushed into the cylinder of the disk holder to expand the paired disk support members 621 and 622 to the expanded diameter position, while the slide shaft 625 is pulled out of the cylinder to contract the disk support members 621 and 622 to the contracted diameter position.
That is, according to the prior art example 3, the manipulation for expanding or contracting the holder is carried out by sliding the paired cam actuators, which are inserted into the cylinder from the both ends of the holder, along the longitudinal direction of the holder. Pushing in the cam actuators 624 causes the holder (621 and 622) to expand in diameter and pulling out the cam actuators 624 causes the holder to contract in diameter. However, the expansion and contraction of the diameter of the holder is carried out by expanding and contracting the paired disk support members 621 and 622. Accordingly, with both the cam actuators of the holder held by hands, pulling out or pushing in one cam actuator will cause, dynamically, the reaction of the force to act on the other cam actuator, so that the other cam actuator is displaced relative to the holder to be pulled out of the holder or to be pushed into the holder. However, with the paired disk support members (the first core and the second core) of the holder held in place or subjected to resistance in the longitudinal direction, the reaction that is the same in magnitude as the force produced when one cam actuator is pulled or pushed is not necessarily applied to the other cam actuator.
For this reason, when the expanded diameter and contracted diameter of the holder are switched over by means of a robot, such a problem is raised in that the first core and the second core can be balanced with difficulty and thus cannot be kept parallel to each other, making it difficult to expand or contract the diameter smoothly.
Furthermore, cam grooves are provided near the both ends of the holder. Accordingly, when the manipulation for expanding the spacing between the first core and the second core is carried out by means of the pins engaging the cam grooves, both end portions of the first core and the second core are supported by pins and thus both end portions of the first core and the second core can support disks in a stable state. However, the central portion of the first and second cores is not supported by any means, so that such a problem is raised in that this causes deflection to be produced in the first and second cores, thereby making the support of the disks unstable.
The object of the present invention is to provide a disk holder that facilitates the switching manipulation for expansion and contraction of the diameter and provides improved stability of holding disks.
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the disk holder according to the present invention is a disk holder which comprises a first core and a second core, which is inserted into an axle hole of a disk, and which supports a plurality of disks at intervals in a row, wherein
all cores are members having a given length with a generally U-shaped cross section and combined to oppose each other so that adjustment of expansion and contraction of the cores can be carried out between an expanded diameter position and a contracted diameter position,
the expanded diameter position is a position where an inner periphery of an axle hole of a disk is supported by part of a circumference surface of the holder,
the contracted diameter position is a position where the holder is inserted into and withdrawn from the axle hole of the disk,
rows and supports of guides are provided on an outer surface of each of the cores,
the rows of the guides are to form flutes for, supporting disks at predetermined intervals by receiving the disks one by one inbetween the guides, and
the supports are projected rows for supporting the inner periphery of the axle hole of each of the disks by multi-point (preferably three-point) support.
Furthermore, the disk holder according to the present invention is a disk holder which comprises a first core and a second core, which is inserted into an axle hole of a disk, and which supports a plurality of disks at intervals in a row, wherein
the first and second cores each are members having a given length with a generally U-shaped cross section and combined to oppose each other so that adjustment of expansion and contraction of the cores can be carried out between an expanded diameter position and a contracted diameter position,
the expanded diameter position is a position where an inner periphery of an axle hole of a disk is supported by part of a circumference surface of the holder,
the contracted diameter position is a position where the holder is inserted into and withdrawn from the axle hole of the disk,
rows and supports of guides are provided on an outer surface of each of the cores,
the rows of the guides are to form flutes for supporting the disks at predetermined intervals by receiving the disks one by one inbetween the guides,
the supports comprise rigid supports and elastic supports,
the rigid supports are to be brought into contact with part of the inner periphery of the axle hole of each of the disks, and
the elastic supports have deflectivity and deflect to be deformed by being subjected to weight and act repulsive force caused by the deformation upon the inner diameter of the axle hole of the disk.
Furthermore, the disk holder according to the present invention is a disk holder which comprises a first core, a second core, and a cam actuator, which is inserted into an axle hole of a disk, and which supports a plurality of disks at intervals in a row, wherein
the first and second cores each are members having a given length with a generally U-shaped cross section and cylindrically combined to oppose each other so that adjustment of expansion and contraction of the outer peripheries can be carried out between an expanded diameter position and a contracted diameter position,
the expanded diameter position is a position where an inner periphery of an axle hole of a disk is supported by part of a circumference surface of the holder,
the contracted diameter position is a position where the holder is inserted into and withdrawn from the axle hole of the disk,
rows of guides are provided on an outer surface of each of the cores,
the rows of the guides are to form flutes for supporting the disks at predetermined intervals by receiving the disks one by one inbetween the guides,
the cam actuator is to be supported by the first core and inserted movably into a cylinder of the holder, into which the first and second cores are combined, in the longitudinal direction, support the second core at two or more points, keep the cores parallel to each other, and switch the combination of the first core and the second core between the expanded diameter position and the contracted diameter position.
Furthermore, the disk holder according to the present invention is a disk holder having a combination of a core, supports, and a cam actuator, to support a plurality of disks in parallel,
the core is a holder portion to be inserted into axle holes of two or more disks,
the supports have projected rows and a resilient portion,
the projected rows are portions to be protruded in the shape of rib from inside the core to outside the core to support the inner periphery of the axle hole of the disk holders, provided on the resilient portion,
the resilient portion is made of an elastic material and has a self-restoring property, and
the cam actuator forcibly deforms the resilient portion to allow the projected rows to protrude out of the core and conversely, releases the forced deformation of the resilient portion to allow the projected rows to retract into the core.
Furthermore, the disk holder according to the present invention is a disk holder having a combination of a core, supports, and a cam actuator, to support a plurality of disks in parallel,
the core is a holder portion to be inserted into axle holes of two or more disks, having a guide surface of the resilient portion inside the core,
the projected rows are portions to protrude in the shape of rib from inside the core to outside the tore to support the inner periphery of the axle hole of the disks, provided on the resilient portion,
the resilient portion is an elastic material having a curved surface bent in the shape of an arc, having a self-restoring property, and inserted in the core, and
the cam actuator presses the curved surface of the resilient portion against the guide surface of the core to forcibly deform the shape of the curved surface to allow the projected rows to protrude out of the core and conversely, releases the forced deformation of the resilient portion to allow the projected rows to retract into the core.
Furthermore, the disk holder according to the present invention is a disk holder having a combination of a core, supports, and a cam actuator, to support a plurality of disks in parallel,
the core is a cylinder having a curved surface on an inner surface of an axle hole and has slits :in the axial direction,
the supports have projected rows and a resilient portion,
the projected rows are portions to protrude in the shape of rib from inside the core onto a circumference of the core through the slits to support the inner periphery of the axle hole of the disks,
the resilient portion is made of an elastic material having a curved surface in the shape of an arc in a cross section thereof and has a self-restoring property and is inserted into the axle hole of the core,
the curved surface of the resilient portion is greater in radius than the axle hole of the core, and the projected rows are provided on a convex surface of the curved surface of the resilient portion, and
the cam actuator is inserted into the axle hole of the core at least from an opening on one end of the core and forcibly deforms the curved surface of the resilient portion along the curved surface of the axle hole of the core to allow the projected rows to protrude onto the circumference of the core, and conversely, is drawn out of the core and releases the resilient portion to allow the projected rows to retract into the core.
Furthermore, the disk container according to the present invention is a disk container having a combination of a box and a holder, wherein
the box is a hollow container which can be opened and closed, provided inside the box with a hollow portion big enough to accommodate disks, and having bearing portions for holding the holder,
the holder is to hold a plurality of disks in a row by being inserted into axle holes of the disks, and both ends of the holder are suspended in the hollow portion of the box by being held on the bearing portions of the box, and
the disks held on the holder are accommodated in the hollow portion of the box without being in contact with an inner wall of the box.